Going to college, whether in your hometown or far away, is a time of learning for most students. This learning isn’t just held within the walls of the classroom or limited to the academic courses picked. Just as much learning has to do with navigating steps into the real world and healthcare is part of that. Integrity Urgent Care can help students with a great deal of their healthcare needs.
What options are there?
Many college campuses have a small clinic on campus for students. These vary greatly in the services they can provide depending on the school. Otherwise, most communities offer three choices, your primary care, urgent care, or emergency rooms.
How to pick which one?
Establishing a relationship with a primary care physician is a great first step when moving to a new location. Your primary care team can help keep track of your annual checkups, any follow ups you need, and can be there for many issues you may experience in your life. This is a step many college students and established adults tend to skip. Also, a primary care physician can be difficult to get into with appointments usually needing to be made well in advance.
Urgent care clinics are a great, cost effective, option for students who need a place to go when they are sick, are concerned about a sprain or fracture, are experiencing undiagnosed pain, physicals, or have other basic health needs. While appointments can be made at Integrity Urgent Care, walk ins are always welcome.
The emergency room is better suited for larger concerns or during hours that an urgent care isn’t open. You may experience longer wait times in the emergency room as patients are seen and treated. By freeing up the medical attention at emergency rooms for those with life-threatening issues, everyone is better off.
How to pay?
At Integrity, we take a number of health insurance plans and several forms of payment. Feel free to contact us ahead of time to see if your insurance is accepted by our offices. We will work with your insurance to have everything billed correctly and our visits are qualified as an urgent care which typically has a lower copay than emergency room visits. For self-payment, our costs are competitive while still providing you with the care you need to get better.
Referrals outside of Integrity.
Depending on a patient’s concerns, there may be times a referral is needed for a specialist or a doctor that can provide ongoing care. These will be given on a case by case basis. Sometimes our team may be able to direct you to someone we know and have worked with in the past. Other times, we may not. That doesn’t mean a medical team outside of Integrity is bad, we simply don’t know everyone in the field, especially in some of our larger communities. We do promise when you are in our offices, you will get the best care we can provide in a friendly and efficient environment.
Integrity Urgent Care has several locations that are ideal and flexible for students needing healthcare while they are away at school. Our clinics are open every day, from 8 am to 8 pm. We can offer care for a number of different illnesses, injuries, and concerns, and get you back to your studies before you know it.
